[originally published 7 January 2012 13:16]

Smashing Magazine shared a link to the Grid Portfolio theme by dessign.net on Smashing’s Facebook page.

However, the Grid Portfolio theme is just one of several elegant free WordPress themes on dessign.net’s site. All the themes are designed to showcase visual work, but the demos are configured to show different features.

For example, several themes feature links to one’s social media presence, such as Facebook page and Twitter feed. The Visual theme‘s demo is particularly rich – in addition to Facebook and Twitter links, the demo’s social media links include Tumblr, Flickr, Dribbble, and Forrst. Also, the Visual demo has the Blog enabled (unlike most of the other free themes’ demos).

All the themes have a video preview tour. The tour I watched was oriented toward showing how to set up the theme after downloading it, rather than marketing all the gee-whiz features of the theme.

If you’re involved with design, photography, or other visual arts, and you need a new WordPress theme for your site, check out dessign.net.